Understanding God’s Will For My Life

What will you be in 5 years? In 10 years, what will your life look like? 20 years, what will you be doing?

God knows, even though we don’t. God knows.

He is the one who created us. King David wrote this:

Psalm 139:1–13 NLT

1 O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. 2 You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. 3 You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. 4 You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord. 5 You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand! 7 I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! 8 If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. 9 If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, 10 even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me. 11 I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night— 12 but even in darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you. 13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.

He knew you before your mother was put to bed, he knows you now, and he knows your future. God desires great things for you. He wants you to love him, to honor him, to turn to him and turn away from anything and anyone else…but God also has a plan for you.

Jeremiah 29:11 NLT

11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

He has plans for his children, those who have called upon his name. If you have trusted in God as your Lord and Savior, God has a plan for your life.

So I think we can agree that God has a plan for us. But, how do we know HIS plan? That is what we are going to talk about today: Understanding God’s Will For My Life.

+++CBC CREED

Open your Bible to Romans Chapter 12.

Understanding God’s Will For Your Life

The Book of Romans is a letter written by the Apostle Paul to Christians who were living in Rome. He wasn’t there at the time, but he wanted to encourage them how they should live as followers of Jesus Christ, and I would also say that he gave them some instruction in how they could see God’s will for their lives as they followed him.

Two verses this morning: Romans 12:1-2

Romans 12:1–2 (NLT)

1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.

2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

These two words, AND SO, help us to understand that what he is about to say is combined with something he has already said. The ESV, KJV, AND NRSV use the word “therefore” and its the same meaning.

Here is something you have to understand about the Bible. When the Holy Spirit inspired the writers of the Bible like Paul, and John, and Luke, and Daniel, and Moses, and the others. they did not write a chapter number and a verse number. They just wrote the words that the Holy Spirit inspired them to write.

Today we look at our Bibles and see a chapter number and a verse number, and it helps us to find the location of the text we are studying or want to turn to. When was this done?

In the year of 1551, a man named Robertus Stephanus while publishing an English Bible added chapters and verse numbers.

So as we read the opening words to Chapter 12, AND SO, continues a thought from the end of Chapter 11. And what we see is that Paul is telling them that God has mercy on everyone. Even though man is a sinner, he gives grace and mercy to those who will seek him. To use the words of Paul to 1 Timothy 2:4

1 Timothy 2:4 NLT

4 who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth.

But not everyone will. Paul says in Romans 11:25 that some have “hard hearts.” Some Jews and Gentiles will never acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord and turn to him for salvation.

But that doesn’t change things for those who do call upon the name of the Lord. Paul ends chapter 11 with this: Romans 11:36

Romans 11:36 NLT

36 For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever! Amen.

Everything comes from him…even your future. Your school, your job, your family, your children, your car, how long you live, it all comes from Him, why? For his glory.

Think about that. If you are his child. Your future is not for you…its for him…for HIS GLORY.

So know as we move to Romans 12 we can pick up with this understanding of what Paul has said before and apply it to what he is going to say in verse 1 and 2.

Romans 12:1 NLT

1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.

Romans 12:2 NLT

2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

You may have heard this verses before, they may be familiar to you, but I want to look deep into what Paul is telling those Roman Christians and see how we can apply the same thing to us AND see how we can see and Understand of God’s Will For Our Lives.

Let’s go back to verse #1

Romans 12:1 (NLT)

1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.

Paul says I want to encourage you to give your bodies (your lives) to God. Why? Because of what Jesus has done for you. Not only did Jesus die for your sins and was resurrected on the third day, but in that he provides a way to cover the sin that separates us from him. And Paul is saying, because of what he has done for you, give yourself to him. Give yoru bodies to him. Give your lives to him. How do we do this? How can we give our bodies and our lives to him?

Romans 12:1 (NLT)

1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.

We give them as a sacrifice. To sacrifice means to lay it down, to give it up, to give it away. We are to give up our lives for his glory and his purpose, whatever that will be. We are to see our lives as being used for his purpose, not our own selfish desires and wants.

How do you begin to Understand God’s Will For Your Life?

Turn Your Life Over To God.

Turn your Life Over To God. But this is more than a prayer in church, it is a daily lifestyle of seeking him, praying, and making him your #1 priority.

Romans 12:1 (NLT)

1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.

This is what he wants. This is what he finds “acceptable” and is truly the way to “worship him” There are many forms of worship. You can worship when you sing, worship when you give, but the best way to worship is by present ing a life that he finds “holy and acceptable.” And for you to give God a life that is holy and acceptable, you have to give him a life that shows that he is #1, and everything falls beneath Him.

But Paul is not done, he continues to show us How We can understand God’s Will for your life.

Romans 12:2 (NLT)

2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

How do you begin to Understand God’s Will For Your Life?

Turn Your Life Over To God.

Set Yourself Apart from The Culture

Last week, Pastor Douglas talked about being bold. Making a stand where you are. You are in Nigeria. You live in the culture of Nigeria. And like every other culture in the world, the culture of Nigeria does not always point to Christ. The culture of Nigeria is full of corruption, traditional religions, and selfishness. That is the culture you live in. But Paul reminds us that we can’t live those lives. We can’t copy the culture and the customs of the place in which we live, because those things are not how God wants us to live. Its not how we honor the God we love. So how do we do this?

Romans 12:2 (NLT)

2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

We can’t change. We can’t resist the culture. It is only but a work of God and the holy spirit that is in the life of you. God is the one that “transforms you into a new person.”

How do you begin to Understand God’s Will For Your Life?

Turn Your Life Over To God.

Set Yourself Apart from The Culture.

Allow God to change you.

How does God change us? How does God transform us into a new person? How can you resist the culture? Be bold? That change, that transformation comes when we draw near to him. What does James say about drawing close to God? James 4:8

James 4:8 (NLT)

8 Come close to God, and God will come close to you.

You will never be close to God, unless you KNOW God. You will never be able to live for him, unless he lives in you. You will never be able to be bold for God unless you KNOW him. You will never know the TRUTH about him, unless you seek him. And the best way to know him is to look here and seek him. Just like I said on Friday evening, if you never open this book and seek him, you will be pushed and pulled in to all kinds of wrong thinking and man made things. When we take the time to seek him, he will change us, transform us. That’s good for us, but the best part is that we will give him glory at the same time.

Now look how Paul ends verse Romans 12:2

Romans 12:2 (NLT)

2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

The question is, How Do We Understand God’s Will For Our lives?

How do you begin to Understand God’s Will For Your Life?

Turn Your Life Over To God.

Set Yourself Apart from The Culture.

Allow God to change you.

This is how. You may not know it now. And God may have not revealed it to you yet, but this is how you will know where God is leading yoru life, when the time comes he will show you. So until then, turn your life over to him, set yourself apart from the culture, and allow God to change you and help you see what is important.

I heard a pastor preach in this and he said this, “the Bible is not going to tell you what job you shoudl take, what man or woman to marry, how many kids you should have, or even what car your should drive. BUT, the people does tell you that if you give your life to God, truly seek him in his word, and by striving to live a holy life, YOU WILL LEARN GOD”S WILL FOR YOU.